“French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that 40 people died by drowning since last Thursday and the victims were mainly young people… Hundreds of schools were closed Monday as temperature hit 111°F.” weather.com/2026/06/23/n...

Europe is melting! The size, intensity, and longevity of this #heatwave is enormous. Peak temperatures will reach 45°C / 100-115°F this week in #France. You are looking at temperature anomalies in the cloud layer over the next 2 weeks, which peak at +20°C… 1/

Did you know that El Niño gets its name from Peruvian fishermen? In the past, warm El Niño currents pushed fish towards the northern Peru coast, temporarily boosting catches around Christmas time. Fishermen interpreted this as a gift from the Christ child. Hence: El Niño ("The Boy")

NEW: Scientists have identified more than 5,800 square miles of climate-resilient ocean in 72 countries...but more than half of these refugia are in only 5 countries. What implications does this have for the culture and livelihoods of those outside of these bands? www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/c...

Across 519 sites worldwide, Climate Central found that human-caused sea-level rise is detectable at 97% of them. In a new article for The Science Diplomat, Lisa Palmer and John Heilprin analyze the importance of such attribution science. New on #NewSecurityBeat.

Just announced: OpenAI plans to lease a 9.2 gigawatt 100% fossil-fuelled data centre on Ohio. Its emissions will be between 20 - 37 MTCO2-e - somewhere between the total grid emissions of France -> Netherlands As much GHGs as 9.5 average coal plants. Will raise US total emissions by 0.5%

NEW: The Climate Blind Spot in EU's New Migration Pact by @carnegieeurope.bsky.social carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

A new GAO report details “millions of dollars of waste” and several serious incidents at an ICE tent detention camp in El Paso, Texas: a detainee who died after an officer used force, a detainee suicide, and a detainee with tuberculosis housed with the general population www.gao.gov/prerelease/d...

We need ~30 years of data from the AMOC to be able to finally determine if it's actually collapsing. We're at 20 years of data. Removing this now means we can't definitively determine a potential AMOC collapse that could result in substantial climate disruptions. www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

for reference and comparison: conservatively, the United States spent two-thirds of that figure in the *first week* of the war on Iran. it's genuinely difficult to overstate how many world-historical own goals US politics has accumulated over the past few decades

“if this materializes, it would be the strongest El Niño we have records for - going back 175 years”

AI data centers consumed ~1 trillion liters/264 billion gallons of water in 2025. This is comparable to the annual water usage of 1.8 million Americans. AI data centers are currently consuming the same rate of water as the entirety of the world's bottled water industry. www.yahoo.com/news/us/arti...

A company that makes a no-tech, repairable tractor is having trouble keeping up with demand from farmers sick of John Deere's repair monopoly and simply want a tractor that turns on and works: www.404media.co/demand-is-bo...

New data centers in Lake Tahoe and Virginia are creating headlines due to the impact on electricity supply. @katenrg.bsky.social and @noahjgordon.bsky.social break down the data center debate and explore potential solutions: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

The forecast strength of this El Niño is astonishing! Plotted below are all the strongest El Nino’s on record vs the 2026 forecast (thick white line). Look at how deviant this event has the “potential” to be! Forget “Super”, if this verifies it deserves “Supercalifragilistic expialidocious!”… 1/

Breaking: Judge Jackson blocks NSF from dismantling NCAR. www.courtlistener.com/docket/72496...

Time to replace HEPA filters, update go bags, and otherwise prepare for what looks to be an especially tough wildfire and smoke season.

The Western European heatwave was so deviant for May it’s almost impossible to count all the records. Here’s a last 7-day review of all the records neared, tied, and broken. The pink are all-time May records! #heatwave #Europe

This is a colossal mistake. The cost of ideology over science. theconversation.com/shutting-dow...

Extreme heat is no longer just a matter of comfort. It is a public health issue, a matter of social equity, and one of climate justice. And pregnant women are on the front line. #heat #publichealth #climatechange Our article in @theconversation.com 👇 theconversation.com/climate-chan...

NEW: Practical Toolkit on Climate Change and Disaster Displacement via @profjmcadam.bsky.social @kaldorcentre.bsky.social climatemobility.unsw.edu.au/practical-to...

Climate mobility continues to be an issue that cuts across geographies

📢 Starting in 1 hour! If you cover hurricanes, don't miss this preview of the 2026 hurricane season from @coveringclimatenow.org and @climatecentral.org. RSVP: coveringclimatenow.org/event/press-...

EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN INDIA Insane heat wave in India and Pakistan with records smashed in pieces every single day. 47C again with 34C at night in Rajastan 46.5C at Ratlam ALL TIME RECORD Next weeks deadly heat with heat indexes up to 60C in Andhra Pradesh.

BREAKING: in April 2026, *every single one* of the 1,570 refugees admitted in the United States were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 6,066 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November 2025), and nobody else.

Sea surface temperatures continued to warm in the far eastern Pacific in April, as El Niño is likely to develop (find trusted sources to follow & not just the hype). Note also the significant marine heatwave stretching from near Hawaii to California/Mexico! Data: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/opt...)

Cool

Wildfires that don't sleep We have the tools to get off this path apnews.com/article/wild...

Reminiscent of the immigrant/expat debate, no? also: "According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), between 2008 and 2024, approximately **22.3 million people** were displaced in the United States due to a range of hazards, including floods, storms, and wildfires." (a low est.)

Wildfires are burning in Georgia and Florida this week. My discussion of how Hurricane Helene from 2 years ago may be making them worse www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

Yikes is the contiguous US dry

"Rahmstorf, who has studied the Amoc for 35 years, has said a collapse must be avoided 'at all costs'. 'I argued this when we thought the chance of an Amoc shutdown was maybe 5%, and even then we were saying that risk is too high, given the massive impacts. Now it looks like it’s more than 50%.'"

As climate disasters intensify across the U.S., more people are being displaced—but without formal recognition, access to resources remains limited. @kayly.bsky.social examines the potential for new policy pathways: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗻: Flooding is a major driver of displacement. Among flood-affected respondents, 80% reported housing destruction as the main reason for leaving. Read more: https://f.mtr.cool/nexugsrdyw #MECMEA #ClimateMobility

Typhoon #Sinlaku hit the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands this morning as a Cat 4, making it the 10th Cat 4 or Cat5 tropical cyclone to hit the U.S. in the past 10 years — an unprecedented battering by these intense storms. yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/04/cate...

The US has an internal displacement problem. We just don't call it that. What can we learn from the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (which marks its 28th anniversary this week) to ensure the displaced recover quickly and with dignity? carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Croplands around the world produced enough calories in 2020 to meet global food needs. Only half were available for human consumption. @gaeacabico.bsky.social reports:

People want to ride bikes

NEW: a new “tour de force” study published in Science finds that the world’s largest-known community of chimpanzees has fractured and engaged in lethal conflict—much like a civil war. Learn more on my latest for @sciam.bsky.social 🧪

BREAKING: Emperor penguins and Antarctic fur seals are now both considered Endangered, according to the IUCN. As the climate warms, melting sea ice and shifting prey are pushing these species to the brink — hitting young animals the hardest. https://nyti.ms/4sUmzaC

This is catastrophic.

Oil from an Iranian ship struck near the Strait of Hormuz threatens to poison one of the region's most important wetlands. Local fishing communities depend on the mangrove forest for food. If oil reaches them, it's likely to kill the fish they need to survive. share.google/hpVAKkuAVy9J...

This is a key problem of GenAI. If we're using it for the wrong purpose, we're replacing very efficient solutions that don't require much energy with extremely inefficient and imprecise solutions that require huge amounts of energy.

Brazil’s Amazon hydropower plants are becoming vulnerable to climate change, and Belo Monte may be the clearest warning sign yet. Built after years of debate, the mega-dam is facing a problem its planners could not solve with engineering: less water. @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2026/03/fall...

Data Centers: not popular

Call for inputs for the study of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the implications of sea-level rise. Deadline: April 30. www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for...

Every single one of these agencies does science that emergency managers rely on to be able to do their jobs.

This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.

Is your state becoming uninsurable? In CA, insurance prices have gone up by 16% in the last two years, and are about to increase by another 16% this year. grist.org/economics/is...

It broke down in 2024. I think a refiled version passed Congress in December last year, but it doesn't yet seem to have been promulgated. I'm sceptical it'll be useful when passed (its success seems to hinge on being able to establish causality), but I guess we'll see how implementation goes.